Auglamour F200 Earphone Review – Masterful Design

I’ve always been interested in Auglamour products because of their fantastic styling and packaging (at least they looked great in pictures. So, when I had the chance to review out the Auglamour F200 I jumped on it. Am I glad I did? Heck yes! The F200 has a very smooth and engaging sound that justmakes you want to keep listening. It also has an absurdly good build quality and incredible comfort. Let’s get more into it.

“Glamour to me is about remaining graceful and understated.” KATE WINSLET

Pros

Amazing build quality for the price

Warm and inviting sound is smooth and non-fatiguing

Great accessory bundle

Very affordable

Cons

Nothing worth mentioning, considering the price

Buy on:

This sample was provided for the purpose of an honest review. All observations and opinions here are my own, based on my experience with the product.

Specification

Product material: MIM zinc-magnesium alloy

Drive unit: Φ 10mm Graphene diaphragm actuator

Sensitivity: 105±2dB/Mw

Frequency response range: 20Hz-20kHz

Impedance: 24ohm

Cable length: 120cm

Price $19.90

Package and Accessories

The Auglamour F200 comes in a fairly typical small and slender white box with a clear image of the earphones on the front. On the back is a list of features plus an exploded diagram and frequency response graph.

Upon opening, you’re presented with the earpieces seated in a black foam insert. Below that is a handy zipper storage case with the Auglamour logo printed on the top. Inside the case are the rest of the included accessories.

Here’s what you get in the package:

Auglamour F200 earphone

1x pair of silicone ear hooks

3x pairs of silicone eartips (S, M, L)

A shirt clip

An information booklet/user manual

That might not seem like a lot but actually, it’s pretty darn good when you consider you’re paying less than $20 for all of it.

Build Quality and Design

With their zinc-magnesium alloy construction, the earpieces of the F200 are simply stunning for a $20 product. It’s a material that not only looks but also feels premium, giving a very solid and durable feeling to the shells.

The Auglamour F200’s housings have a familiar style; one that flares outwards from the top of the stem, in what would normally be a conical shape. However, parts of the main body have been carved out, most likely to reduce the weight but it also gives the shells a unique shape and appearance. The concave curves also serve to provide a very natural and firm grip for your fingers which makes getting the perfect placement in your ears really easy.

At the top of the stem is the engraved Auglamour logo. On the inner side of the housings is a single bass port, just near the base of the nozzle. The nozzles are angled for optimal positioning in your ears and have a solid lip to secure your eartips. There’s a gold-coloured metal mesh in the nozzles to keep out earwax and debris.

Cable

The F200 cable reminds me a bit of the older style KZ (Knowledge Zenith) ones. It’s brown in colour, is a little stiff and rubbery and suffers from microphonics. It’s not a bad cable per se but feels pretty ordinary compared to some of the other budget offerings we’ve seen recently.

On the right side is a metal single-button control and microphone. The button feels solid and has a nice tactile click and the voice quality of the mic is surprisingly good. There is a strain relief at both ends of the controller.

The metal Y-split is fairly small and lightweight and lacks a strain relief. At the end of the cable is a straight metal plug, identical in size and shape to the Y-split but here we find a good strain relief.

Comfort and Noise Isolation

The ergonomics of the Auglamour F200 shells is really good. With the angled nozzles and rounded, convex inner surface it provides a very secure and comfortable fit in your ears. I could easily wear these all day and find the F200 to have above average comfort, at least for my ears.

Noise isolation is also above average. With just a single bass vent on the inner surface, the zinc-magnesium alloy puts up a solid shield against noise from the outside world. This is the perfect earphone for noisy environments and noise leakage is virtually non-existent so you won’t bother anyone nearby no matter how loud you listen to your music.

Bass

This budget IEM is capable of some meaty bass thumps. It has a slow attack but reasonably fast decay. Despite not having the quickest bass, there is still good texture and definition in bass notes. The solidity of the housings keeps any unwanted resonance in check.

The bass is very linear from its sub to upper bass regions and transitions smoothly into the lower midrange. It carries some weight and authority but is not at all overdone in quantity. In fact, for the most part, the bass sits behind the lower treble. This is not an IEM for the bassheads out there but there should be enough bass to satisfy the average listener.

Mids

The midrange is smooth from top to bottom and has good body throughout. It is a little recessed in contrast to the lower treble but male and female vocals are still intelligible and emotive. Instrument separation is about average for a budget earphone and the midrange doesn’t get muddied up too much during busy segments.

Treble

Up top, the treble is very relaxed. It does have a light airiness to it but upper treble is not very forward so is limited in quantity but the quality of it is satisfying, despite having an only average extension. Most of the emphasis is on the lower part of the treble and there is a fairly rapid roll off after 6hKz. This helps to avoid any stridency and aims for smoothness over clarity.

Soundstage

The F200’s stage is a little on the small side but it makes up for this by having excellent depth and decent height. It feels more like a large room rather than a stadium but it never feels confined or too intimate.

Imaging is a strong point for the F200 so, spatial representation is quite good. For a budget earphone, it does great with positional cues. In “Kodiak” by Whale Fall the position of the guitars on each side of the listener is easily discernible with the drums centre back and keyboard front and centre.

Comparisons

Tin Audio T1 ($36 USD)

The T1 has less body in the bass and lower midrange, giving it a more lean tonality. In addition, the T1’s bass is more textured but doesn’t carry the same weight and authority as the F200.

In the midrange, both IEMs are comparable in quality but the F200 is slightly more recessed here. This is due to its mildly V-shaped signature compared to the T1’s more balanced presentation.

The treble on the T1 is more forward than that of the F200, making the latter sound smoother but less lively up top. The F200’s sharp roll-off after 6kHz gives it a ‘safe’ treble but in doing so loses some clarity in the process.

Build-wise, these are both outstanding and rock solid. The F200 actually comes out ahead in terms of accessories, adding the additional ear-hooks and zipper case.

Overall the T1 is a little more refined but it’s worth keeping in mind that even though it is just $36, that is almost double the price of the Auglamour F200.

Hypersense HEX02 ($25 USD)

The HEX02 has a heavier bass and a more prominent treble, giving it a more V-shaped signature. With its accentuated higher frequencies the HEX02 has more clarity and it also has more note density in the midrange. The HEX02, therefore, has somewhat of a cleaner sound but is more aggressive compared to the F200’s more laid back presentation.

The HEX02 has better-defined and textured bass notes, while the F200’s bass is more balanced in quantity but lacks the punch of the HEX02. Both IEMs have good midrange capabilities and similar forwardness but the HEX02’s extra clarity gives vocals more intelligibility and electric guitars have more bite.

It’s in the upper midrange and the treble where the biggest divergence is between these two budget phones. The HEX02 has a more prominent and brighter top end, where the F200, in contrast, is very subdued. As a result, the HEX02 delivers more detail and energy but can get fatiguing, particularly if you’re treble sensitive.

Both of these earphones have amazing build quality for their respective prices. I do prefer the cable on the HyperSense but the Auglamour’s cable is still respectable. As for the included accessories, they’re almost identical, except that the Auglamour F200 comes with a zipper case and the HEX02 comes with a drawstring pouch.

Auglamour F200 Conclusion

It’s crazy what you can get for less than $20 these days. The build quality of the Auglamour F200’s earpieces can match and even surpass IEMs costing multiple times the price. Although its based on a familiar shape and style, some clever design choices make it really comfortable and fit securely in my ears.

In terms of sound it doesn’t excel in any particular area but at the same time, it does everything quite well. When you combine its satisfying sound, solid build, accessory bundle and budget-friendly price, the F200 stands out as one of the best options available in its price range.